Monday, January 2, 2012

SURRENDERING THE STRIVING

Yup, I'm thinking you have – in fact, you probably have something right now that is troubling you. Maybe it's something in the area of finances, or maybe health, or perhaps a relationship.

Whatever it is, I'll bet you want an answer, you want guidance, you want an outcome – you want the situation to be SOLVED.

It's human nature.

Most of the time, I give myself grace to be human. But then, the "Christian" in me speaks up, and I determine that I shouldn't be feeling what I'm feeling. Now, I don't mean any disrespect by putting quotation marks around the word Christian. I am truly a born-again believer saved by Jesus Christ – and I truly follow Him by faith.

But, I'm talking about the part of me that starts chastising myself for my feelings.

Let's be honest – we know that we have feelings that are not driven by the Spirit. We know that our sinful natures still stir up thoughts and desires that are at odds with the truth.

But, we still have these thoughts and desires and feelings.

So what do we do with them?

Here's when I start feeling confused.

Thankfully, I'm not alone. (Thank you, Paul)…

"The trouble is with me…I don't really understand myself, for I want to do (feel, think) what is right, but I don't… I can't. I want to do (feel, think) what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do (feel, think) what is wrong, but I do it anyway." (From Romans 7 – with a few added words by me)

The confusion lies here – what to do with the thoughts and desires and feelings that are not of the Spirit, but they're there because I'm human?

I know that I am supposed to surrender them to the Lord. And I want to – I truly do. But what exactly does that mean – how does that work out in practical ways?

Because I'll tell you what – when I don't surrender these things to the Lord, I start feeling GUILTY.

Guilty that I'm still confused or hurt or disappointed or afraid. Guilty that I still don't know what to do. Guilty that I have feelings of frustration and impatience (with God, if I'm totally honest). Guilty that I'm still human –

Because my thoughts and desires and feelings haven't disappeared.

THERE. IS. THE. RUB.

I interpret surrender to mean that when I give up, give over these things to the Lord – they magically disappear! I don't think them, or want them, or feel them anymore. And if I still do, then I haven't surrendered them.

It's a sticky wicket –

(STICKY WICKET – a delightful term that originated in England, from the game of cricket. A wicket is the playing surface used in cricket. This phrase is a direct allusion to the difficulty of playing on a wet and sticky pitch. Therefore, it means a difficult situation. Thank you, Sharon, for the word lesson – there WILL be a pop quiz…)

Here's where the enemy perpetrates a subtle attack on me. The lie goes something like this:

"I have these thoughts and desires and feelings. I shouldn't have them as a Christian. Therefore, I must surrender them to the Lord. If I still have them, then I haven't surrendered them. I am a terrible Christian."

Yeah – it's sort of like adding 1 + 1 and getting 3.

Faulty logic. At least in my opinion.

Because here's what I'm learning. Here's what surrender is beginning to mean to me. Surrender isn't the disappearance of the thoughts and desires and feelings. It is the surrendering of the striving – it is letting go of their power…

Take a person who is going to go on a diet. They aren't going to stop eating completely, and they're not going to stop being hungry – but they ARE going to release the power that food has over them.

Or what about a person struggling with addiction? Once in a rare while, God does intervene and completely remove the addiction, and the desire for it. But more often than not, it's a lifetime battle of surrender – of LETTING GO of the power that the drug or drink has over them.

Unless the Lord intervenes in a different way – (and He sure can if He wants to!) – surrender is going to be a process for me. I'm going to still have the thoughts and desires and feelings. Situations are still going to stir these things up inside of me. And I can waste a lot of time and energy trying to make them disappear. Not to mention making myself crazy with guilt when I can't…

God says to me: "Sharon, stop striving…"

Finances, health, relationships – these are going to rouse some strong stuff inside of us. And the thoughts and desires and feelings might not go away. But surrendering the OUTCOME of them, letting go of the POWERof them, giving to God the NEED for a solution – these are the things of faith.

Allowing God to be sovereign – relinquishing to Him the control of it all –this is what it's all about.

Job asked for answers – He got a whirlwind. But he also got God.

Our striving, once yielded, can lead us directly to the face of God – in spite of the thoughts and desires and feelings that come along for the ride.

10 comments:

This is excellent. I happen like that passage from Paul. Doesn't it continue with something like "oh wretched me?" or am I thinking of another Pauline passage?

I wish I could give you the correct answer on the striving and surrender. On a good "Debbie Day", I could say all the right stuff. You just caught me on a bad "Debbie Day", practically an "oh wretched me day".

My surrender generally sounds more like this, "OK, LORD. I quit." That's not the same thing, is it? Quitting and surrender are millimeters together and light years apart, I think.

And don't you dare do quitting vs. surrender for a fan the flame Friday, Missy. I'm feeling wretched enough already.

Letting go of the past and casting our care on the Lord is often difficult. Paul said we strive to reach the mark at the end of the race. Strive can mean many things, Endeavor, desire so much with all our being. Trusting God we follow his guidance and as we take each step we listen for His voice for our next move. Many of us women like to be in charge (to strive)- - but with God we must release our days to him.

Whew... thanks Sharon! This was an awesome releasing condemnation kind of post... and I surrender! Aye. there's the rub... and I will yield to striving!

I, too, found freedom through much of what you shared to not carrying around my guilt any longer into 2012. I feel dipped, cleansed and spanky clean. OK, not really, just a bit better about my inadequacy with surrender... and then dragging it back with me into the next year and the nest year, until I have a whole mountain of guilt ahead of me and don't feel at all like a very good Christian.

Thank you for your honest, vulnerability which lets me know even if I'm not all OK, His grace is enough!When I sing "I surrender all..." I will remember that it's my striving that stops and I'm still in the process of growing and going beyond my human limits... to realize that my surrender may or may not make "whatever" disappear but I will learn to overcome one day at a time... that which is holding me back from moving ahead, but those thoughts, feelings, or desires being crucified are being filtered out of me too... as I replace the old with the new and let go, knowing that He's in control, when I'm good, bad, or just ugly... He already knows that and I'm a Masterpiece in process and also very human.

What do you do with situations that won't go away? What does surrender look like to you? I have a few that I keep laying at the feet of Jesus... and asking Him to remove and He lets me know, we're working on it... waving a white flag... please, LORD, cleanse me as I give this one to You again... I'd like to say I change, but you know as well as I do... that change is a life time process. Yes, here's the RUB:it's a lifetime battle of surrender – of LETTING GO of the power and the VICTORY... is in His Hands and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we cansubmit, admit, and remit our human needs for a taste of spiritual glory.And maybe He will change us to reflect a little more of Jesus each time through the process of being FREE!

Love this and love you (((hugs)))Peggy(now I'll be running this one through my mind all night)... gotta stop striving and sinking in quicksand.(Oh I don't do that... must be someone else)

"So [I] have been greatly encouraged in the midst of [my] troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives [me] new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord. How [I] thank God for you!" (1 Thessalonians 3:7-9)

Thanks for your comments - it is such a joy to be sharing my journey with friends like YOU!

(NOTE: Anonymous comments will be removed. Thank you for understanding.)

WELCOME

About Me

I'm a middle-aged, married, Christian woman. I have one wonderful husband, two great adult sons, two awesome daughters-in-law, two precious granddaughters, and an adorable granddog (a beloved beagle!) I consider myself a COLEN ("Change-Of-Life Empty-Nester"). This is a time of transition in my life. Things are changing, and so am I. However, I desire nothing more than to serve my Savior. Please join me on my journey as I walk out my faith in the second half of life!

MY PRAYER

FAITHFUL ONE

"I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name."

Revelation 3:8, NIV

WHY I WRITE

"I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say.

I write to discover what I know."

- Flannery O'Connor

**AWARD FREE BLOG**

Though I am truly humbled and honored by your consideration, your comments are awesome enough!! Thank you so much.

"You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain - the place, O LORD, reserved for your own dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established. The LORD will reign forever and ever!"

(Exodus 15:17-18)

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD...There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths."

MY WORD FOR 2016

Word origin: 1550's, "pleasing to the mind," also "full of gratitude," from obsolete adj. grate "agreeable, thankful," from Latin gratus "pleasing" – derived from the same word origin as the word "grace."

The trick to changing your behavior is to become more thankful.

The practice of gratitude involves a focus on the present moment, on appreciating your life as it is today and what has made it so.

Let us begin an eternal quest to express in new and creative ways our thanks to God.

So I'm breathing in Your grace,

And I'm breathing out Your praise.

Let our prayers be the overflow of a grateful heart to God.

Three steps in prayer:

PRAISE – praise, reverence, worship, adoration, and awe for who God is and what He does

ASK – honest, earnest, and intense requests

THANK YOU – always end with thanksgiving for everything

Pulpit commentary:

In everything give thanks.

In every circumstance – in joy and in sorrow; for everything – for prosperity and for adversity; in every place – in the house of God and on the bed of sickness.

Christians should not only be engaged in constant prayer, but in constant thanksgiving.

For this – this thankful spirit – is the will of God, His desire.

God by the gift of his Son has laid us under the obligation of perpetual thanksgiving. Our whole lives ought to be one continued thank-offering for all the blessings of redemption.

Gill's Exposition:

Thanks are to be given to him for all things…

For all temporal good things;

for our beings, the preservation of them;

for food and raiment, and all the mercies of life;

for the means of grace, the word and ordinances, and the ministers of the Gospel;

and especially for Jesus Christ, for such a…Saviour, and advocate with the Father, as he is; and for life, peace, joy, comfort, righteousness, and salvation in him.

Thanks should be given to God in every circumstance of life; in adversity, as Job did; when not in so comfortable and agreeable a frame of soul as to be wished for…even under the temptations of Satan…since the grace of God is sufficient to bear up under them, and deliver out of them.

[Give thanks] in afflictions of every kind, since they are all for good – temporal, or spiritual, or eternal.

The enemy specializes in making me feel discontent, unsatisfied, miserable, grumpy, self-focused, negative, and fearful.He brings nothing but suffering and pain – but You, O God, specialize in making megrateful...

TEACH ME YOUR WAY, LORD.

MY VERSE FOR 2016

"Rejoice always and delight in your faith; be unceasing and persistent in prayer; in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus."

(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, AMP)

A PRAYER OF GRATEFULNESS

Dear Lord, I want to change my outlook. I want to transform my spirit. I do not want to go through another day without remembering all that You have given me, and thanking You for it. Please give me the power to be thankful in all things, and for all things, for You are with me in all of it. Let me never forget that You work all things together for good, and for that I am eternally grateful.

Search This Blog

JOIN ME ON THE JOURNEY

Followers

CARE BEFORE YOU SHARE

Contents of this blog are the property of the author, and may not be reproduced in any manner without consent. Please do me the courtesy of asking for permission before you copy or share any of the contents of this blog, in whole or in part. All rights reserved.

Thank you so much!

"THE HUB"

MARTY

"All creatures great and small, The Lord God made them all!"

"You care for people and animals alike, O LORD."

(Psalm 36:6)

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."

- Anatole France

JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME...

...yesterday, today, and forever!

A WORD FROM THE WORD

"'I am the LORD; there is no other God. I have equipped you for battle...so all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am the LORD, and there is no other.'"

(Isaiah 45:5-6, NLT)

A "MESSAGE" FROM GOD

"'I am honored all over the world. And there are people who know how to worship me all over the world, who honor me...They're saying it everywhere: 'God is greater, this GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies.'"

(Malachi 1:11)

(All verses taken from "The Message" by Eugene H. Peterson)

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

How do you cope with distress in your life?

Grateful Word:DISTRESS

"I tell you...if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

(Luke 19:40, NIV)

ON PRAYER

Sometimes I get all messed up when I think about prayer. Sometimes I think I look at it backwards – thinking it's all about me communicating with God. It is that, for sure. But it's also a time for God to communicate with me. It doesn't have to be big and lofty, nor long and pious. It's just two people who dearly love each other seeking conversation and communion.

FAITH

Seeing great miracles does not necessarily lead to great faith. Rather, great faith comes from a deep-seated conviction that God is great.

GRATITUDE

"Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude."

- A. A. Milne

EL ROI

The God Who Sees Me

"Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar and spread its wings?"

(Job 39:26)

"I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. You are yourself the answer. Before your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice?"

(C. S. Lewis, "Till We Have Faces")

PURPLE MOUNTAIN MAJESTY

"From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised."

ASLAN LIVES!

IN HIS EYES

MY OTHER BLOG

(For the complete story about "Bible Pick 'Ems," see my blog entry dated June 29, 2010)

(P.S. Please find references on the "BIBLE PICK 'EMS" Page on this blog!)

NOTE:

(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, c. 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation)

PEACE LIKE A RIVER

WHAT IS LOVE?

Love is when you are missing some of your teeth but you're not afraid to smile because you know your friends will still love you even though some of you is missing.

By Emma K. - Age 6

"Out of the mouth of babes..."

A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.

Anonymous

When you are uncertain, it helps to have someone remind you what is true – someone who knows you well, who sees you, and keeps track of you – not just your body but your soul.

Emily Freeman

HE IS MY ROCK

"The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust..." (Psalm 18:2)

HOLD FAST

"Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on solid bedrock." (Matthew 7:24-25)

WHEN I AM WEAK, HE IS STRONG

PROMISE FOR THE DAY

TRUST IN ME

YOU ARE NEVER ALONE

I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE

GOD PROTECTS THE CHILDLIKE...

"For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children."(Matthew 19:14)

MEET THE BIBLE

A ONE-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN

Reading this year from: "The Amplified Bible" by Zondervan and The Lockman Foundation, c. 1987 (revision)

"Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises to be fulfilled." (Romans 15:4, NLT)

"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NLT)

"The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever." (Isaiah 40:8, NLT)

HOW GREAT THOU ART

"The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship." (Psalm 19:1)

"He counts the stars and calls them all by name. How great is our Lord!...His understanding is beyond comprehension!"

(Psalm 147:4,5)

"Praise the LORD from the heavens! Praise him from the skies!...Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him all you twinkling stars!" (Psalm 148:1,3)

"For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May your glory shine over all the earth."

(Psalm 108:4,5)

"Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the highest heavens. You have done such wonderful things. Who can compare with you, O God?" (Psalm 71:19)

"I alone am God, the First and the Last. It was my hand that laid the foundations of the earth, my right hand that spread out the heavens above. When I call out the stars, they all appear in order." (Isaiah 48:12)

"God made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens. When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses." (Jeremiah 10:12-13)

ALL FOR HIS GLORY

I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God.

If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant.

But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by His marvelous grace.

I will commit myself to instruction and listen carefully

to words of knowledge.

I will leave it all in the Lord's hand.

I will trust Him.

For there truly is a reward for those who live for God.

ALL GLORY TO GOD FOREVER AND EVER!! AMEN!

I'D RATHER HAVE JESUS

I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause,

I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause -

I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame,

I’d rather be true to His holy name -

I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead,

I’d rather have Jesus than anything

This world affords today.

"So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless."

(1 Corinthians 15:58)

THE GLORIFIED ONE

SERVING THE MOST HIGH

Corrie ten Boom once said she was simply, "the skin on the hands of God."

"Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:39)

"And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'" (Matthew 25:40)

"'And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.'"

(Matthew 10:42)

"...my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus - the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God."